Household Telephone Wiring

Solid Color Cabling

Four Wire Cables

Wire
Pair

Wire #

Tip/Ring

1

1

T

2

R

2

3

T

4

R

The chart above shows basic telephone wiring on a four wire jack. You only
use two wires to make a phone line. To wire an extension for a phone line
you must extend the loop by wiring in the same color wire at the jack.

Eight Wire Cabling

Wire
Pair

Wire #

Tip/Ring

1

1

T

2

R

2

3

T

4

R

3

5

T

6

R

4

7

T

8

R

Striped Cabling

Wire
Pair

Wire

Tip/Ring

1

1

T

2

R

2

3

T

4

R

3

5

T

6

R

4

7

T

8

R

Household Wiring Diagram

On standard 4-wire solid color wiring (common in most households) you can
wire up your jacks as follows. Just remember that red and green make a pair.
Also remember that black and yellow make a pair.

You must swap the tip and ring for the correct pair with the other pair when
converting between extensions.

Always keep in mind that someone else may have screwed up the wiring before
you got there. Be prepared with a phone you can afford to break and use it to test the connection
as you build. The phone system will send 48 volts DC to the phone to run the 'ringer'. If the phone is incorrectly wired, you may burn out the phone.

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